Weber Study Guide

What should you know about Max Weber if you have taken this course?

Basic Biographical Facts

Major Works & Blurbs

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

"Class, Status, and Party"

Class as economic dimension — class position = market position; social status as independent dimension of inequality based on social honor; class and status interact; party as organized efforts, based on class and/or status, to influence legal rules that affect class and status.

"Politics as a Vocation"

Ethic of ultimate ends vs. ethic of responsibility

"Bureaucracy"

B as an ideal type (of social organization) has seven characteristics: business as an ongoing concern, offices function according to rules, offices are organized hierarchically, officials do not own tools & resources, work and home are strictly separated, office is not owned by the incumbent, business based on written documents

"Types of Legitimate Domination"

Legitimate authority as sub-type of power. Three types: traditional, legal-rational, charismatic.

Economy and Society

Magnum opus, published posthumously, contains most of his well known writings (including "Bureaucracy," "Domination," "Class, Status, & Party")

Concepts and Terms

ideal type
Protestant Ethic
spirit of capitalism
worldly asceticism
ethic of ultimate ends
ethic of responsibility
bureaucracy
legitimacy
domination/authority
power
legal-rational
traditional
charismatic
class
status
party
social honor
consumption

Quotes

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